BGSQD presents: The Gay Liberation Front – Making History

Many myths have been spawned about Stonewall and the rise of the modern LGBTQ movement. This afternoon a few of the surviving founders of the Gay Liberation Front, first and most radical LGBTQ organization directly after Stonewall, will present a true history as they witnessed it. First Martha Shelley will read from her memoir, WE SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE. She’ll talk about the pre-Stonewall days, when she was one of a handful of lesbians out in public, then about the Gay Liberation Front where she and others of her sisters and brothers worked and succeeded in changing US society and the world. A panel discussion will follow, after which the audience will be invited to participate. Martha Shelley will be joined in conversation by fellow Gay Liberation Front Founders Perry Brass, Mark Segal, Dr. Flavia Rando, Mark Horn, & John Knoebel.

To reserve a copy of Martha Shelley’s We Set the Night on Fire: Igniting the Gay Revolution (Chicago Review Press, 2023, hardcover, $28.99) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served. Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/@bgsqd. Suggested donation to benefit the Bureau: $10. All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

Martha Shelley organized the first gay protest march after Stonewall and was a co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front. In addition to her work on radical newspapers and feminist presses, she produced the world’s first lesbian radio program at WBAI-FM. She is the author of four books of poetry, three novels and, most recently, the memoir We Set the Night on Fire.

Perry Brass joined the Gay Liberation Front in 1969 and co-founded the Gay Men’s Health Project Clinic. He is the author of 13 books as well as a journalist, playwright, poet, and essayist.

Mark Segal was a participant at Stonewall and one of the founding members of the Gay Liberation Front. He is the author of And Then I Danced, and the publisher of the award-winning newspaper, Philadelphia Gay News.

Dr. Flavia Rando joined the Gay Liberation Front in 1969. She is an art historian and editor, teaches Lesbian, Women’s and Gender Studies, and serves as a curator of the Lesbian Herstory Archives.

Mark Horn joined both the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance in 1970. A lifelong gay activist, he is author of Tarot and the Gates of Light and has taught at both the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Readers’ Studio International Tarot Conference.

John Knoebel participated in GLF men’s living collectives, the Weinstein Hall sit-in, the 1970 Village Riot, GLF’s outreach to the Black Panthers and many other GLF actions. He subsequently pursued a 35-year career as a senior executive with The Advocate and OUT magazines.